Cordelia: You're him. You're Angel's son. Connor: It's not like I got to choose.

'Hell Bound'


Natter 68: Bork Bork Bork  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Allyson - Apr 15, 2011 11:52:14 am PDT #3444 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

I have a question for the womenfolk. I'm going to TAM in July.

[link]

A couple of the speakers, Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins, have said and defended some boneheaded things about women in the last few months. They are both revered in the atheist/science/skepticism community. Krauss blamed teenage girls who were trafficked for prostitution for extorting one of his benefactors who went to jail for paying underaged girls for sex. "These girls knew what they were doing."

Because once you're exploited once, the hundredth time is okay, I guess.

And a butt ton of dudes are defending Krauss.

Dawkins called a woman hysterical for being angry at The Million Dollar Challenge put forth at a conference: The bet is a million dollars that any person in the audience could find a sex partner (without paying/bribery). Since no men would take the bet, but most women would, that is proof that women have the power in sex relationships.

Dawkins never thought about why. He never thought about the risk women bring to the table, and that it isn't power when you have to consider your health/reputation/social status can be harmed with casual sex. And that saying "no" is a protection of those things, and not always or mostly indicative of lack of drive/desire.

And the question remains, "why don't more women attend these conferences?" And the answer is usually, "because women are magic air fairies who don't think logically." OK, that was an exaggeration. But the usual mansplaining follows, and it's always some sexist evo-psych just-so bullshit.

So my questions: Do you ever feel that the weight of stupid sexism is so heavy, that you just want to pick up a baseball bat and start swinging? How do you keep your sanity?


Consuela - Apr 15, 2011 12:13:33 pm PDT #3445 of 30001
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

How do you keep your sanity?

I watch Farscape?

Erm. Okay, that's not fair. But I do go out of my way to find thinkers and writers who deconstruct those sexist assumptions. I read Bitch, and Sociological Images, and Threadbared, and I have a bunch of great feminists on my flist, like Lucy Gillam and Lesley Hall, who are really good at poking holes in those arguments.

And then I do what I can to speak and act in support of women, and I try not to be judgmental (I usually fail), and I try to help my nieces grow up into strong women who know they can do anything, while still recognizing the barriers that society is throwing in front of them.

It sucks. But the alternative (giving in) is worse.


-t - Apr 15, 2011 12:14:55 pm PDT #3446 of 30001
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Brave the post office. Certified mail in this circumstance is worth it.

Whoops, already been picked up. I'm getting a refund, so I'm not too concerned. Though it would be nicer to actually get the refund than not, of course.


erikaj - Apr 15, 2011 12:18:10 pm PDT #3447 of 30001
Always Anti-fascist!

"A day at a time, I suppose." (/Omar)--let's pretend that tag closes. Honestly, I'm not all that sure that I *do* keep my sanity. But it helps me to remember that the arc of history bends towards justice. And every time you make someone think, it counts, even if it isn't storming a barricade. But I think that may be why I love knowing that the baddest bad guy on the Wire was a woman with the "Lexus of nailguns,"


Lee - Apr 15, 2011 12:18:57 pm PDT #3448 of 30001
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

-t, how did you find out that your taxes had been rejected? I'm not going to be around this weekend to mail them if I need to, and now I'm getting paranoid.


Sheryl - Apr 15, 2011 12:19:12 pm PDT #3449 of 30001
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"

Timelies all!

The brakes on Gary's car were grinding, so he is dropping the car off at the Nissan dealership tonight and I will go pick him up. First, I have to find out which Nissan dealership...


Burrell - Apr 15, 2011 12:34:14 pm PDT #3450 of 30001
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!

I feel like right now is a good time to quote Liese's words of wisdom:

Liese: Change happens in the heart, one person wrestling with it at a time, and over time (and probably through backtracks) that one person becomes a different person. And that person is in the world, so you have changed the world.


Cashmere - Apr 15, 2011 12:35:18 pm PDT #3451 of 30001
Now tagless for your comfort.

Do you ever feel that the weight of stupid sexism is so heavy, that you just want to pick up a baseball bat and start swinging? How do you keep your sanity?

Yes. I don't own a baseball bat, just in case.


Consuela - Apr 15, 2011 12:45:34 pm PDT #3452 of 30001
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Liese, that's a marvelous quote.

Burrell, thanks for sharing it.


§ ita § - Apr 15, 2011 12:48:44 pm PDT #3453 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Dilbert creator exposed sock puppeting.