Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Help! We have fallen...down the Rabbit Hole
We have fallen down the Alice's proverbial rabbit hole--where sexism are all around us, yet it is acceptable (NOT). And, I am not just talking about the way Senator Clinton is being treated in the media, but how sexism is prevalent in all our lives & laws.
We have school principals who have banned rainbows for being "sexually suggestive" i.e., they support gay rights. Thankfully a federal court judge ruled against that as an unconstitutional infringement of first amendment rights. See http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/35265prs20080513.html
We have a new definition of public space: up women's skirts, at least when women are wearing them in public. As in the two peeping tom cases (one in Oklahoma and one in Florida) both were dismissed because the acts took place in public-- one at a Target, the other at a Barnes and Noble. According to the Barnes & Noble case, the defense attorney (a woman, btw) argued that women do not use have any reasonable expectations of privacy in a public place according to the Florida law which reads: 'It is illegal to secretly observe someone with lewd, lascivious and indecent intent in a dwelling, structure or conveyance, and when such locations provide a reasonable expectation of privacy.' See
http://feministing.com/archives/009226.html#comments
A new study reports that 90% of all teenage girls report they have been victims of sexual harassment at least once (!) from unwanted physical touching to verbal comments See http://feministing.com/archives/009222.html
As catcalling season opens, and some women like it (!)--I call that being internally colonized http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/14/lw.catcalls/index.html
We have school principals who have banned rainbows for being "sexually suggestive" i.e., they support gay rights. Thankfully a federal court judge ruled against that as an unconstitutional infringement of first amendment rights. See http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/35265prs20080513.html
We have a new definition of public space: up women's skirts, at least when women are wearing them in public. As in the two peeping tom cases (one in Oklahoma and one in Florida) both were dismissed because the acts took place in public-- one at a Target, the other at a Barnes and Noble. According to the Barnes & Noble case, the defense attorney (a woman, btw) argued that women do not use have any reasonable expectations of privacy in a public place according to the Florida law which reads: 'It is illegal to secretly observe someone with lewd, lascivious and indecent intent in a dwelling, structure or conveyance, and when such locations provide a reasonable expectation of privacy.' See
http://feministing.com/archives/009226.html#comments
A new study reports that 90% of all teenage girls report they have been victims of sexual harassment at least once (!) from unwanted physical touching to verbal comments See http://feministing.com/archives/009222.html
As catcalling season opens, and some women like it (!)--I call that being internally colonized http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/14/lw.catcalls/index.html
Labels: sexism
