Welcome to Teal Deer Tuesday, where I point out painful items to make sure your brain hurts right along with mine.
But the mighty Teal Deer finds that:
Derp.
Showing posts with label Feminism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feminism. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Words Matter. Pay Attention to What They Mean.
I've been reading up on this case.
The more I read about it, the more pissed off I get.
Words matter. When someone uses positive words that people have been trained to respond positively to since birth, it matters. When the media uses the word "honour" - even though it's in quotation marks - in relation to a barbaric multiple homicide, our subconscious minds try to find something humanising in the accused. Our empathy strives to find some way to excuse some of the accused's atrocity based on the fact that if honour is involved, then the accused had some sort of worthy higher purpose in mind when he or she took the life of another human being.
In this case, four human beings died. Four women - three of whom were just teens.
Four women died because they dared to have their own hopes and dreams for their lives, and they didn't allow others to dictate how they should live.
We can't blame the country this time - this happened in Canada, and the Canadian press should know better. They should know better than to allow criminals to dictate how a crime is perceived. They should know better than to provide any hint that they sympathise with femicide.
Why would you give any hint of legitimacy to such a barbaric act? Especially one based on a misogynist religious and tribal belief that women are lesser beings and violence against them is justified if they refuse to submit?
Stop calling femicide 'honour' killings. There is NOTHING honourable in these crimes, so call it what it is: murder.
And stop allowing religion to dictate how women are treated and viewed by the public.
The more I read about it, the more pissed off I get.
Words matter. When someone uses positive words that people have been trained to respond positively to since birth, it matters. When the media uses the word "honour" - even though it's in quotation marks - in relation to a barbaric multiple homicide, our subconscious minds try to find something humanising in the accused. Our empathy strives to find some way to excuse some of the accused's atrocity based on the fact that if honour is involved, then the accused had some sort of worthy higher purpose in mind when he or she took the life of another human being.
In this case, four human beings died. Four women - three of whom were just teens.
Four women died because they dared to have their own hopes and dreams for their lives, and they didn't allow others to dictate how they should live.
We can't blame the country this time - this happened in Canada, and the Canadian press should know better. They should know better than to allow criminals to dictate how a crime is perceived. They should know better than to provide any hint that they sympathise with femicide.
Why would you give any hint of legitimacy to such a barbaric act? Especially one based on a misogynist religious and tribal belief that women are lesser beings and violence against them is justified if they refuse to submit?
Stop calling femicide 'honour' killings. There is NOTHING honourable in these crimes, so call it what it is: murder.
And stop allowing religion to dictate how women are treated and viewed by the public.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Oh, Those Fabulous Fundies
So no shit, there I was - sitting on the couch, sipping my tea (coconut cream green tea, if it matters) and trying to shake a wicked headache. I made the mistake of flipping through a few news sources while doing so, and found this gem:
Christians Once Again Forget That the First Amendment Applies to Everyone Equally, Even Pregnant Women
I despise 'crisis' pregnancy centers. I don't give a shit what your political stance is - no one has the right to browbeat a pregnant woman into letting other people make medical decisions for her. This time around, it takes on an even more ominous note:
"The report says one Jewish investigator who posed as a pregnant woman was told at five centers she wouldn’t go to heaven unless she converted to Christianity, and that one volunteer challenged her to become a “born-again virgin.”
Really? That's the best they've got? "Convert to our religion or you won't get the imaginary cookie when you die, you whore."
Pregnant women aren't animals - in fact, women aren't animals. This may come as a shock to many people, but women are human beings, and as such, they have full rights over their own bodies. Beyond that, telling women what they may or may not do based on a misogynist religious book is directly contrary to the women's First Amendment rights. 'Freedom of religion' doesn't mean that religious people have the right to shove their beliefs down other people's throats. Even the founding fathers of the United States recognized that one:
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.
-Thomas Jefferson
Suck it, you worthless hacks. If you're half the 'Christians' your book tells you to be, you'd be supporting these women and showing them love, not hate. If hate and misogyny are all you've got, you're a walking advertisement for the fact that there is no god.
Thank you for that.
Christians Once Again Forget That the First Amendment Applies to Everyone Equally, Even Pregnant Women
I despise 'crisis' pregnancy centers. I don't give a shit what your political stance is - no one has the right to browbeat a pregnant woman into letting other people make medical decisions for her. This time around, it takes on an even more ominous note:
"The report says one Jewish investigator who posed as a pregnant woman was told at five centers she wouldn’t go to heaven unless she converted to Christianity, and that one volunteer challenged her to become a “born-again virgin.”
Really? That's the best they've got? "Convert to our religion or you won't get the imaginary cookie when you die, you whore."
Pregnant women aren't animals - in fact, women aren't animals. This may come as a shock to many people, but women are human beings, and as such, they have full rights over their own bodies. Beyond that, telling women what they may or may not do based on a misogynist religious book is directly contrary to the women's First Amendment rights. 'Freedom of religion' doesn't mean that religious people have the right to shove their beliefs down other people's throats. Even the founding fathers of the United States recognized that one:
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.
-Thomas Jefferson
Suck it, you worthless hacks. If you're half the 'Christians' your book tells you to be, you'd be supporting these women and showing them love, not hate. If hate and misogyny are all you've got, you're a walking advertisement for the fact that there is no god.
Thank you for that.
Run Screaming
Welcome. If you've found me, you probably already know that I'm blunt and don't pull verbal punches when it comes to religion and sexist bullshit...and I don't mince words about sexism in atheism either. It's time for people to grow the fuck up and treat women like people.
Let's get this party started.
Let's get this party started.
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