passionatecuriosity-blog

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Something sad happened early Saturday morning in Melbourne. A 32 year-old woman, who’s identity has not yet been released by the police, was found dead in the Botanical Gardens in the heart of the city.

She was found naked, and had apparently been ‘sexually and physically assaulted’. She worked...

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6.2.14

So, for [news networks], we present a comprehensive reusable one-size-fits-all mass shooting coverage go kit to get everybody back to apathy as quickly as possible.

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ISLA VISTA: OUR WAR ON WOMEN

The recent shootings in Isla Vista have been attributed to a young man who was frustrated with his loneliness. As the shooter was a wealthy, white American, the media was quick to defend Elliot Rodger as a troubled young man suffering from mental health problems. Immediately people jumped to his defence. Poor kid was just lonely, girls obviously weren’t nice to him, so he had to drive in his BMW alone with no pretty girl in the passenger seat. Some people even went so far as to blame blondes for the shooting.

The thing that bothers me the most about this is that had Elliot Rodger been a young, Muslim guy from somewhere in the Middle East, or even somewhere in America, people wouldn’t question his mental health. In this situation, we’d be given the impression that Islam is just a violent religion that encourages violence from those who follow it. Not to mention, these other people probably don’t have access to the counsellors, psychologists and medications that Rodger received as a result of his privileged upbringing. We call it terrorism when it’s based on one ideology, so why not another?

Two points to make about this. Firstly, let’s go with the obvious: the media is reluctant to call someone a terrorist if they’re white. We saw it with Breivik and we’re seeing it now. Whenever a white person goes on a shooting spree, they’re ‘disturbed’, suffering from mental health issues, regardless if they post a 140-page manifesto spewing blind hatred towards a certain group of people or not.

Secondly, the fact that this could be considered “extremist misogyny” seems laughable to some people. As if this isn’t actually an ideology that someone could ascribe to, as if misogyny isn’t even a thing. Come on guys, equality has totally happened, get with the program. The views expressed by Rodger in his manifesto aren’t uncommon views. Many men feel that women owe them something. As a woman myself, I can’t even count the amount of times this has happened to me. Whether it’s a guy friend who feels he has some right to fuck me because he’s been such a good friend to me, or the guy who feels it’s appropriate to grab me in a bar just because I am walking past him. I hear people saying that those who are making apologies for Rodger’s actions aren’t the majority view, but how often do you hear people saying rape or sexual assault is the fault of the victim because they were “asking for it” or that domestic violence is the fault of the victim for “making them angry” or “putting up with it”. People making apologies for Rodger’s actions, people blaming women for turning men down, saying that it’s their fault that this has happened are doing just that on a larger scale.

Just because misogyny is ingrained in our society does not make the views Rodger expressed in his manifesto any less of a hate speech. There are communities of people in online forums that spew similar rhetoric to that demonstrated in his manifesto. This community is undoubtedly one of hate and violence, so if we’re so quick to throw an entire group of mostly peaceful people who ascribe to a certain religion (Islam) into a category, why are we so hesitant to put these extreme misogynistic people into bed with Rodger?

This attack was ideologically motivated and targeted at a certain demographic. It was premeditated with the overall aim to send a message to women, ‘your day of retribution is here.’ I challenge those who don’t think this is terrorism to change the words spoken by Rodger and replace the word “women” with “Jews”. Targeted at a different group of people, I don’t think there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was an act of terrorism, or in the very least, a hate crime.

For the original article 

http://lotswife.com.au/2014/05/isla-vista-our-war-on-women/

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Being a woman is kind of like being a cyclist in a city where all the cars represent men. You’re supposed to be able to share the road equally with cars, but that’s not how it works. The roads are built for cars and you spend a great deal of physical and mental energy being defensive and trying not to get hurt. Some of the cars WANT you to get hurt. They think you don’t have any place on the road at all. And if you do get hurt by a car, everyone makes excuses that it’s your fault.

A friend of a friend (via bettycockroach)

Sad because it’s true. 

(via atheoryofmaking)

Wow.

(via karibikes)

a while back i made a similar post called 'transportation in america as a metaphor for privilege', so, yeah, SECONDED

(via julierthanyou)

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totally not a hate crime against women 

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A man in Stockton, California allegedly fired eight rounds from a 9mm handgun at three women who refused to have sex with him and his friends.

According to Stockton Police, the women had accompanied the three men to their home around 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning. The men asked to have sex with them, but the women refused. At that point, Stockton Police Department Public Information Officer Joseph Silva told ThinkProgress, the men demanded that the women immediately leave, and as they were doing so, one of the men opened fire.

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 i found you a nicely apt description of what the fucking friendzone is

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“Being born a woman is an awful tragedy. Yes, my consuming desire to mingle with road crews, sailors and soldiers, bar room regulars—to be a part of a scene, anonymous, listening, recording—all is spoiled by the fact that I am a girl, a female always in danger of assault and battery. My consuming interest in men and their lives is often misconstrued as a desire to seduce them, or as an invitation to intimacy. Yet, God, I want to talk to everybody I can as deeply as I can. I want to be able to sleep in an open field, to travel west, to walk freely at night.”

Sylvia Plath (via eutro)

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The truth is that there is no such thing as a lone misogynist – they are created by our culture, and by communities that tells them that their hatred is both commonplace and justified. So when we say that these things are unstoppable, what we are really saying is that we’re unwilling to do the work to stop them. Violence against women does not have to be inevitable, but it is almost always foreseeable: what matters is what we do about it.

Elliot Rodger’s California shooting spree: further proof that misogyny kills (via azspot)

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People say that those online who are blaming women that didn't sleep with Rodgers for the shootings don't represent the majority. However, the practice of blaming women for rape, sexual assault and domestic violence IS common.  It's time we stop blaming the victims and making apologies for men who behave this way. Just because someone feels rejected doesn't give them the right to shoot a bunch of people, just like it doesn't give them the right to sexually assault or rape a woman, just like being jealous doesn't give someone the right to hit their wife or girlfriend. We need to stop making excuses for these men!

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I’ll be honest with you, I’m a little bit of a loner. It’s been a big part of my maturing process to learn to allow people to support me. I tend to be very self-reliant and private. And I have this history of wanting to work things out on my own and protect people from what’s going on with me.

Kerry Washington (via iminfj)

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Labor senator says rejecting the term feminist is a political manoeuvre aimed at undermining gender equality policies

“Feminism is not an extreme term – it is a mainstream movement that has transformed modern Australia for the better. “I say that if you are a supporter of gender equality you are a feminist – and that it is important to use and be proud of the term. For a start, it associates us with a tradition … We have the right to vote, we have access to education, to jobs and careers and the prospect of economic independence and sexual freedom only because the feminists of earlier generations fought on our behalf.” ... “[it's] a trap to think that feminists’ work is done, that the revolution for gender equality has been won, and its gains cannot be reversed”.

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So, I have always been a fan of Dr Seuss' propaganda.

I thought it was fitting to post this as I have just decided I'm going to start collecting propaganda posters, should be a fun hobby!

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My classmates!

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Should we treat food and drinks high in added sugars like we do alcohol and demand separate areas to sell them?

I think if we live in a society where the government feels the need to monitor intake of alcohol and tobacco with age restrictions and high taxes then sugar should also be considered as a "dangerous substance". Obesity puts a major strain on our health system and many people who are obese are suffering from malnutrition. There needs to be a focus on fresh, unprocessed foods and the over consumption of sugar needs to be taken more seriously.